Gene

those last 2 fouls by AB and LO were terrible...no excuse for that type of play...

good job by the refs to keep the game under control tho...

tex_phil

Alpine White Girl

Dirk flopped quite a bit on Lamars shot. Bynums was terrible though.

Hate to say it but i am in fact a wizard. Gasol played the second softest series of his career. First being the 2008 finals against the celtics.

Gene

and that's not the first "terrible" foul we've seen from AB this season..remember the one against beasley..very similar..forearm/elbow to the body...

and then there was the gerald wallace foul 2009...same type of foul...and IIRC, GW went to the hospital after that foul...

respect and applause to the lakers for a respectable 2011 season went out the window after that second flagrant and ejection...

and in the post interview after tonight's game AB acted like he had no remorse for his actions

smh AB...


BUT, nothing but respect and applause to Phil Jackson..great coach and career

G530

Calling all NBA fans: How will the Lakers rebuld for next season? Drastic shake up or some adjustments for younger more athletic back court?

tex_phil

I don't think it really needs to be that different, kobe, bynum, odom, gasol will be fine. Just put a better bench around them, or maybe a better point guard. They need to work out their personalities too and get rid of the ego's. Most of it is mental.

Gene

new coaching staff, better bench, better PG...

Alpine White Girl

The collapse of the lakers started with fishers inability to guard ANYONE. Look at the past few years in the playoffs. First round series the Lakers struggled against the Rockets, Aaron Brooks was abusing fisher. Struggle with OKC, Westbrook abusing fisher. Struggle with the suns last year, Nash and Dragic abusing fisher. Struggle with Hornets, Cp3 abusing fisher. Struggle with the celtics, Rondo abusing fisher. The Lakers are a good/great PG's dream matchup. No one is fast or athletic anymore. Big slow bodies in the paint, aging perimeter defenders. Its pretty sad when Kobe who is 31 has to come off his man to guard point guards because Fisher is a lost cause out there.

Most people will blame Gasol for being a softy (its true) but that isnt the real problem. Gasol has been very soft in 2 of the last 4 playoffs. Extremely soft against the C's in 2008, and throughly abused by the Hornets (who have terrible big men) and the Mavs (formerly the softest team in nba history) this year. It is what it is really. I mean they know he isnt a big and tough physical player which is why they need to utilize bynum more inside. Kobe needs to cap his shots off around 15 per game. Stop forcing trash because he isnt the player he used to be.

Bench play was horrible. Steve Blake was the worst contract in the NBA this year. Barnes wasnt needed because his lack of offense was always a liability. They already had the defensive minded player in Artest. No point for Barnes. Shannon Brown looks lost 95% of the time. He settles for jumpers when he should be the penetrating PG the Lakers need. If you watched Shannon carefully, every single time he went to the hoop something good typically happens. It may be a spectacular dunk/layup, drawing a foul, or kicking to a wide open shooter.

Lakers needs:

1. Penetrating PG
2. 2 spot up shooters
3. possibly adding a dynamic scorer like Crawford or Terry to come off the bench (this will be hard to find/steal from another team)
4. Rest - Kobe, Pau, Odom dont need to be playing in world games or international events. Kobe has over 40,000 mins played. Take a break Black Mamba.

Thoughts?

G530

All very good points guys. AWGirl just about covered all basis. The core group is still top notch, Kobe Pau Lamar Andrew and RonRon, but no longer DFish for all those playoff series outlined by AWG.

SBrown has the athletic ability they need but have shown a lack of focus after being married this season. Barnes lost the edge in hustle and energy play after knee injury. Blake had chicken pox and was lethargic coming into playoffs. Lamar playing FIBA thru the summer and now has a reality show with wifey. RonRon auctioning off his championship ring and charity work and awarded the Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award. Kobe playing with his list of injuries, Bynum's choice of postponing knee off season surgery and missing chunks of early season games, added to Pau's load, which btw won him player of the month during that stretch.

In addition to bad trades: Ratliff's injury none contribution. Sasha traded for JSmith none contribution. Further, the team played 100 games consecutive seasons, dating back from the 2007-2008. Phil's last year in itself is another uncertainty. I think this Hollywood team just has too much distractions on their minds.

G530

Dirk Nowitzki doesn't MISS!!!